


R.S.V.P.

by by_no_one_more_than_me (Lady_Cleo)



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I took this lil plot bunny home, Meet the Family, Prompt Fic, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-21 18:54:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14921009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Cleo/pseuds/by_no_one_more_than_me
Summary: Rio has to go to a wedding. He's taking Beth as a human shield... or so he says.





	1. You are cordially invited

**Author's Note:**

> Just a lil plot bunny I adopted from ladycat713: Rio asks Beth to help with a personal problem, the problem being that he has to go to a family wedding and given what has happened at family gatherings before, he will be grilled about why he isn't married yet and they will try to set him up with every unmarried woman they know unless he has a date. Bonus if he asks her to help him pick out a suit

Beth's mom-sense is tingling. All of her kids are accounted for, Annie's fine, no one's in jail, and Rio's guys are chilling in the backyard with a fresh pot of coffee and some homemade donuts. But something is up.

It has to do with the quiet man on the other side of her island. And that probably has to do with the little flash of white she spotted in his jacket when he came in an hour ago.

"Okay," she says, putting one hand on her hip, balancing against the countertop and pinning him with a Look. She feels a bit like an impatient bartender. "Spill." All he does is sigh, a swirl of conflicted misery on his face. Genuine concern moves her around to his side and she lays her hand on top of his clenched set. "Rio? C'mon, talk to me. What's wrong?"

He takes a minute before answering to stare at her hand, pale against his, like an alien lifeform. Then he unclenches and sandwiches her hand between his. "It's my cousin. Selena." Another deep breath let loose in a shaky sigh. "She's... she's..."

_Pregnant. In a gang. In the hospital. Dying. On a transplant list. A werewolf. In love with a werewolf. WHAT?!?!_ Beth's mind races to fill in the blank.

"Gettin' married in 2 weeks." Beth yanks her hand out of his and swats him hard across the bicep. "Ow! The hell was that for?"

"You had me worried! Don't do that. Unless it's a shotgun wedding or the guy is from rival territory or beats her or something, there's no reason for you to look like" She gestures at his face " _That!_ " She perches on the stool beside him, settling her crossed arms next to his with a huff. "I mean, aren't weddings supposed to be good things?"

"Guess," he allows with a shrug. "The guy makes her happy. And if he don't there's enough of us to make the body disappear." A wry twist pulls his mouth out of shape before he grows serious again. "But it's different when it's someone like Sel. She's special. I mean, our moms were real tight. She's like a sister to me and Tio."

"Who's TIo?"

"My brother."

"You have a _brother?!_ Like... a whole brother? That you've never mentioned?"

"Yeah..." he side-eyes her warily. "Got a brother. Got cousins, and a lotta crazy aunts and a few drunk uncles and an abuela that keeps us all in line since our moms passed."

This seems like bigger news than it probably is. Of course Rio has a family. But they're an abstract, like intelligent life in other galaxies or men who don't cheat. All she can say to any of it is "Oh."

"Anyways, she got engaged like 6 months ago, but she sent me the invite, and all of a sudden it's _real,_ y'know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Her shoulder settles against his in a fleeting touch. "But again, I ask - isn't that a good thing?"

"S'long as she's happy, yeah. Of course it's a good thing. Weddings are just not my scene, even for family."

A crazy idea flashes through her head, completely bypassing the logic checkpoint before hitting her tongue.

"What if-" "I mean, if-" They break off, gesturing back and forth to 'go ahead' 'no no you go' until Rio rolls his eyes and huffs out a breath.

"I was just thinking... might be more bearable if I had someone to talk to during the thing. Like, that I ain't related to. Maybe dance with. Keep my aunts from trying to play matchmaker before the cake is cut." He's watching her with a shuttered intensity at odds with the forced casualness of his tone.

_Ohhhhhh...._

"I mean, if that's what you were thinking, I could probably... maybe go with you. I'm comfortable at weddings, good with new people, and not to brag but" she blows on her nails and buffs them on her shoulder with a smirk "I got moves." It has the desired effect and then some as Rio chuckles, tension bleeding out of his spine as he sags a few millimeters in relief. A second later he's back up, turning to face her.

"That right? Well, you might have to show me a lil somethin-somethin' on the floor, Red."

_Challenge accepted._   She stretches up (completely missing Rio's eyes on her ass) and pulls back with a pen and notepad. "So when is this thing? And where is this thing? And what are we getting them? And what's the dress level? And-"

"Whoa whoa." Rio's got his hands up like she's holding a gun on him; the irony is not lost on her. He hands over the invitation in his pocket, and Beth starts notating relevant details in lavender ink.

"Gift?"

"Got it. I'll put your name on the card."

"Okay. Ceremony's at 4. You picking me up?"

"Yeah. I'll scoop you at 3, we'll drive over."

"What color's your tie?"

"Don't know."

"What color's your suit?"

"Don't know."

The pen stops moving and her eyes slide to his. " Do you have a suit picked out yet?"

"...No." The silence stretches out thin and delicate as a glass thread.

"Do you _have_ a suit?"

"That'll work for this? Nah."

"Well then. I guess we're going shopping."

Beth doesn't miss the expletive under his breath, but she lets it slide. Weddings are stressful on everyone.


	2. Semi-Formal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every girl's crazy about a sharp dressed man... and Rio needs a new suit anyway.

For once, _he's_ the one responding to a text. A time, an address and a little 'be there' subtext. It's a clothing shop. He knows it's a shop and not a store because there's lots of big windows letting in filtered light, and a piano acting as a table, and a _massive_ chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There's a stage on one wall, with a mic and Fenders and a nice Les Paul, and a wall of amps, and a full ruby red drum kit, and nice looking luggage and travel cases that look worthy of holding the clothes in here. There's a little balcony where headless displays seem like they're judging him. This ain't the Men's Wearhouse. As a rule, Rio almost never feels out of place anywhere. He either blends in to the background or just channels his inner steel and walks in like he owns the joint with such believable authority that no one -including him - questions it. But he feels just a little out of place here.

He's 2 seconds from bouncing and just sending Sel his regards - when he spots a flash of red hair. She's sitting in a wood and leather chair done in animal print like some 70s-style throne, sipping coffee from a black ceramic cup and smiling. She looks up and spots him, and he figures he can spare a minute. Her grin is rivaling the halogen track lighting, and they meet in the middle by a glass top table full of accessories.

"Ready to suit up?"

He snakes the last of her cappuccino and nods behind her as he sets the cup down. "Lead the way, Mama."

No surprise but Beth? Is great at this. She puts together patterns and picks out good colors for him and tells him how this cut will fit him better than that one.

"How much of your tattoo do you want visible?" as she sends him to the dressing room with a few options and a basic buttondown.

"Well, I ain't walking her down the aisle, but I didn't know if I'd need a tie."

"I'm gonna head upstairs for a few more options, pull a few ties too. You get started with those, k?" He gives her a little salute and watches her walk away.

He's about to head in to change when his phone buzzes. Setting aside her choices, he whips it out and gets lost in texting with a few of his guys.

"Can I help you... _find_ something?" A sales clerk he hasn't seen before appears at his elbow, wearing a nicer suit than anything Rio's looked at so far and an expression that screams he doesn't really want to help Rio find anything but the exit. 

"Yeah," he says, putting his phone away and pulling on his trademark smirk. "Just checking out your place. Got some nice stuff."

"Thank you." The smile on his face is thin and tight. "It's on the expensive side, but then, quality always is."

"Well lucky me. Quality's just the thing I'm after." He slings an arm around the guy's narrow shoulders and gives him a clap on the chest, hard enough to make him wince. "Maybe you can help. Need a suit. Something classy but still... _**me**_." 

"I see." His smile slips a fraction into grimace territory and he wiggles out of Rio's hold less than gracefully.

"Do you?" Rio's smirk grows slightly feral, like a shark sizing up the potential tastiness of a hapless seal.

"I'm not sure we have anything here that will suit your needs. pardon the pun. But I'm sure I can make a suggestion. Directions to Sears, perhaps?"

Rio's already reaching for the 9 mil in his waistband - classy shop, public place, security cameras be damned, he does  ** _not_** stand for disrespect - when Beth swoops in like an angel. There's an edge to her expression, a hard glint in her eyes that he only notices because he's looking.  _How much had she heard?_

"Honey, I think the black buttondown works best if you don't want a tie, but the ivory spread collar with the midnight blue in an Eldredge would look nice too." She steps up and sets her choices against the jacket he'd set down, then turns and slides her arms around his neck. His hands find her hips without missing a beat. "Can't let you out of my sight for a minute. Sometimes I think you  _like_  having me stay on top of you."

Rio swallows hard at that because damn but his redhead had just batted her lashes and  _purred_  that line, but he recovers smoothly and offers a soft smile. "You know I love having you  _every_  way, Mama." He brushes his lips against her cheek and tastes the blush that follows. "Just didn't want you to miss anything."

"Mmm, I appreciate it, but we can't take  _too_  long making you look good. We still have to pick up the kids and get ready for dinner." There's a little strangled noise from the man they're completely ignoring.

"Heading to your mom's, right?"

"Well she  _does_ love getting her hands on you." She snuggles close and actually nibbles his earlobe. Rio manfully hides the shudder he feels to his toes. "But then good taste runs in the family."

Their laughter mingles like silk threads, abruptly cut by the clerk clearing his throat. They blink and turn in unpracticed unison, like they've just realized they're not alone.

"Oh. Hi. Mark, wasn't it?"

"Matt," he counters lamely. "I... brought you the cappuccino while you were... waiting earlier."

"Oh, right. Matt. Rhymes with _gnat_." Her eyes are glittering like sapphire shards and Matt visibly quails, realizing his little DFU. He has pissed off a woman that looks like Beth, and that is **not** a good position to be in. "I'd like another one while my husband is trying things on, if you don't mind," her tone making it clear she doesn't give a damn if he does or not. "Anything for you,  _darling_?"

"Nah, honey. I'm fine."

"That you are." She slides out of his arms and hands over the clothing she's picked out with an adorable pout playing on her lips. "Now, go try these on for me, please?"

"Anything for you, sweetheart." He catches the corner of her mouth in a kiss, and barely brushes Matt's shoulder as he heads in.

She's sipping another drink and tapping on her phone when he steps out and checks himself out in the full length mirror in the corner of the main floor. It's not quite right yet - the shirt doesn't quite work, it might need a tie - but it's good. She takes one look, shakes her head, directs him to a different combination and does his tie when he comes back out. The soft press of her is tantalizing against his back as she works with her arms over his shoulders, and one hand just fits over the curve of her hip to ground him. The reflection is a picture but he can't tell if it's trick photography. He looks good;  _they_ look better.

"Everything alright, you two?" Matt asks in an effusive tone. "Can I get you anything else?"

Beth's eyes are on Rio's in the mirror, but her voice carries over her shoulder. Deceptively neutral, just a bare edge of 'do not fuck with me.' "There wouldn't be a manager on duty, would there?"

Matt goes pale. "Just... Mr. Varvatos, but he's only in the office to drop off this season's sket-"

"Oh!" She breathes, delighted, whirling to face him. " _Johnny's in?!_ Would you  _please_ go tell him that Bethy's here?" As he walks to the back like a man headed to the guillotine, Beth watches him go and then turns to Rio with a Look. "I won a ticket to a charity fashion lunch a few years ago. He complimented my curves and we bonded over hemlines and martinis." He feels his face do that slightly slack look of surprise, then pulls her into his arms and the two hold each other up as they shake with muted laughter.

An hour later they leave behind one pouting clerk and one beaming designer, carrying 3 suits, shirts and ties that work with each other to change the looks up, and 2 pair of dress shoes - all at a very nice discount. Walking down the street holding hands, Rio feels like a kid at Christmas.

"So," Beth starts, releasing him to open her trunk. "Do I know my stuff or do I know my stuff?"

He sets the stuff inside and playfully folds in half. "I bow to your superior sartorial knowledge."

"Oooh. $5 SAT words. Talk nerdy to me." The laugh that's been threatening since they left the store bubbles out again, and she joins in with a happy chuckle of her own. "Did you see the look on Matt's face when we left? I thought he was gonna explode!"

"Or cry. Damn, girl. Remind me  _ **never**_  to question your boss bitch skills."

She lifts a hand, breathes on her nails, and pretends to buff them on her sleeve. Rio just laughs again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't resist adding a drop or two of Pretty Woman...
> 
> halfway mark already! Keep the feedback coming, guys. It's not just appreciated; it's needed.
> 
> also behold my reference images for the shop Beth takes Rio too: https://www.johnvarvatos.com/storedetails?StoreID=9019


End file.
